#pitcairn #flathal
Our visit to Adamstown, Pitcairn Island is an unusual one. Instead of passengers going ashore, more than half the local population (28 people) came onboard our ship! Imagine how our 1,000 passengers would have overwhelmed this community of 44 people — 6 of whom are government representatives, not residents. They set up tables around the indoor pool and the people of Pitcairn brought postcards, shirts, handicrafts and so much more for passengers to buy as souvenirs of our visit.
After stopping at the impromptu market, the Flat Friends headed to the main showroom to find a good seat. A local was scheduled to offer a presentation about their community, and the island they call home.
Most of the people of Pitcairn are descendants of the Mutineers from the HMAV Bounty. The Mutiny on the Bounty was so famous multiple books have been written about it, and movies made to share the story with generations of viewers.
The Flat Friends love using their imagination. Today we tried to imagine what it must have been like when the HMAV Bounty (aka HMS Bounty) first saw Pitcairn Island. We sailed over 800 miles from Rapa Nui, another small island, to get here. It was 2,000 miles from South America to Rapa Nui.
The mutineers must have been thrilled to spot land! And look how green it is — surely life could survive on an island like this, right? Stealing the HMAV Bounty, and putting Captain Bligh and others off in a longboat was a crime. HMAV means His Majesty’s Armed Vessel. This was not just any ship sailing for King and Country — it had weapons, and a military Lieutenant in command. They deserted from the military when they fled.
One of today’s speakers showed us a picture of a cave that Fletcher Christian used as a lookout. In Christian’s day, trees obscured the opening, concealing him, and he could spy on the open ocean. He spent years, watching, afraid a ship was coming to punish him and his friends.
Even on this tiny speck of land, in the middle of an enormous ocean, he wasn’t sure they were safe from the consequences of their choices.
